Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have many advantages over conventional light sources, such as incandescent, halogen and fluorescent lamps. These advantages include longer operating life, lower power consumption, and smaller size. Consequently, conventional light sources are increasingly being replaced with LEDs in traditional lighting applications. As an example, LEDs are currently being used in flashlights, camera flashes, traffic signal lights, automotive taillights and display devices.
Among the various packages for LEDs, an LED package of interest is the Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier (PLCC) package for a surface mount LED. Surface mount LEDs in PLCC packages may be used, for example, in automotive interior display devices, electronic signs and signals, and electrical equipment.
Most existing PLCC package designs do not include a reflector cup, which means that light emitted by a light source contained within a traditional PLCC package is diffused. This has restrained PLCC packages from being used for white lamps.
Another type of LED package is known as a Surface Mount Technology (SMT) lamp. As compared to a PLCC package, the SMT lamp is larger in overall size and it particularly taller in height. This increased size consumes significantly more board space than the PLCC package counterpart thereby (1) reducing the number of pixels in a board of a specified size and (2) increasing the overall thickness of the board. The SMT lamp, however, is capable of limiting the amount of light that is diffused—especially when compared to a PLCC package. This means that SMT lamps are most often employed in white lamps.
It would be advantageous to design a package for a light source that incorporates the benefits of the PLCC package and the SMT lamp in a single package.